What Calisthenics Program is Best For You?

Any calisthenics program can work, but the real question is which will work best for you? One of the most important factors is how much programming assistance you need.

Programming assistance is essentially the amount of structure you have within a given calisthenics program. Having more structure means there’s less guesswork on your end since the program lays out most of the details for you. This is ideal for those who prefer to follow a program and not have to figure things out for themselves. Beginners also do well with a highly structured calisthenics program. A good example of a highly structured approach is the Get Strong program from the Kavadlo brothers. Get Strong is a simple 16-week program that’s laid out day-by-day, set-by-set, and even rep-by-rep.

Other calisthenics programs have less structure like Convict Conditioning and my Smart Bodyweight Training. These approaches are based more on templates and principles. The advantage to these approaches is they have a lot of flexibility. This allows you to modify the program to suit your goals, preferences, and resources.

Again, all of these calisthenics programs can work very well depending on how much structure and flexibility you want/ need. If you feel like a highly structured program is restrictive, then choose something with more flexibility. On the other hand, it’s nice to have a detailed plan so you don’t have to figure anything out. Always remember it’s about what works best for you and understanding you don’t have to force yourself to adhere to any one method that doesn’t seem to work for you.